The present invention is directed generally to a method of cleaning an oil slick or other chemical spill from a body of water or a surface, as well as to a method of protecting a shoreline from contamination by a floating oil slick or other chemical spill. The invention is based upon the use of highly absorbent poplar bark-based product which is additionally effective for controlling odor from such spills.
The need for an improved method of protecting shorelines from oil spills at sea was dramatically emphasized by the recent tragedy when the Exxon Valdez Oil Tanker plowed into a reef and dispersed an oil slick that has heavily or moderately oiled up to one hundred seventeen (117) miles of coast line in Prince William Sound and along the gulf of Alaska. $1.8 billion has reported been spent on the clean-up to date, which has been largely ineffective. Four hundred twenty (420) shoreline clean-up workers have been hired to use more than two hundred fifty (250) ships and boats, three hundred fifty thousand (350,000) feet of boom and fifty-four (54) skimmers in open waters. Warehouses are stacked with rows of absorbent pads, tons of hoses and hundreds of generators. Nevertheless, only twenty-one thousand (21,000) bbl. of oil, barely nine percent (9%) of the two hundred forty-thousand (240,000) bbl. that were spilled, have been recovered.
The toll on wildlife resulting from the Exxon Valdez oil spill alone has been immeasurable. Sea birds and water fowl, especially diving birds, have been hit hard. Surveys taken the first week after the disaster turned up less than one-third (1/3) of the twenty-two thousand (22,000) grebes, cormorants, diving ducks, gulls, murres, murrelets, and guillemots normally found in the Sound at this time of year. Oiled birds have been spotted one hundred twenty-five (125) miles away, near Anchorage. Whereas, whales, seals and sea lions, which insulate themselves with fat rather than feathers or fur, have fared better than the birds or otters, they are consuming oil contaminated food.
Further down the food chain, the spill poses a continuing threat to the fifty-five thousand (55,000) tons of herring and the one billion (1,000,000,000) salmon fry in Prince William Sound this Spring. The entire herring fishery has been closed. Loss of a salmon harvest could cause fishermen one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000). Even if the oil doesn't destroy their food, it could slow the fish's growth or make it impossible for them to smell their way to their spawning grounds. Large stocks of shrimp, black cod, rock fish, and halibut could be damaged too. Clams and mussels may survive the onslaught, but hydrocarbons will accumulate in their body tissues endangering any species that feeds on them.
Worst yet, the problems caused by such oil spills are somewhat Catch-22. Leaving the shore dirty could cause years of ecological damage. On the other hand, thoroughly cleansing the shore, whether with chemicals or pressurized water, could erode beaches and kill off countless organisms that live near the tide line.
Many additional oil spills have been reported since the Exxon Valdez disaster. Furthermore, the nineteen million (19,000,000) acres of tundra and mountains the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the Northeast of Alaska are being endangered by the petroleum industry's claim that that ground is the industry's last hope for another major on shore petroleum discovery in Northern Alaska. The threatened destruction of this last untouched stretch of Arctic coastal plane by development for oil drilling poses an equal threat to the shorelines of the sea on which such oil would be transported.
Accordingly, there is an imminent need for an effective method for cleaning present oil spills and protecting clean shoreline from being ravaged by future spills. Even apart from the dramatic need for a method of cleaning oil slicks, it is estimated that every year, Americans throw away or dump used oil equivalent in quantity to thirty (30) Exxon Valdez spills.
Besides oil, there is a similar need for cleaning spills of all kinds of other chemicals, including gas byproducts, industrial chemicals and fertilizers to just name a few. In the past, clean-up operations at spill sites of such chemicals have often used a loose clay absorbent because of its apparent low cost. But according to the Sorptive Minerals Institute, the trade organization for clay producers, loose clay can only absorb ten (10) to fifteen percent (15%) by weight of its capacity and still be a functional product. Based on a ten percent (10%) absorbency rate, this means that for every five (5) gallons of waist generated, or for every five gallons of hydraulic fluid that drips out of a machine, you need more than nine (9) fifty pound (50) bags of clay chips, i.e., cat litter, or approximately four hundred fifty (450) pounds of loose material, to clean-up the spill. The labor, handling and disposal of that mass of material renders the clay chips an ineffective solution to the problem of cleaning up chemical spills.
Accordingly, a primary object of the invention is to provide improved methods for cleaning up spills of oil or other chemicals on water or land, as well as to provide a method of protecting shorelines from contamination by floating spills of oil or other chemicals.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a method which uses all natural materials which are readily available in abundant quantities.
Another object is to provide such a method which utilizes the absorbency of poplar bark-based products both to absorb chemicals and to control odors produced thereby.
Another object is to provide such a method for containing and supporting the poplar-based product for use at sea.
Another object is to provide such a method which enables the recovery of a substantial portion of the oil or other chemicals that are cleaned up.
Another object is to provide a method of containing and arresting the spread of a spill of oil or other chemicals on land or water.
Another object is to provide such a method which stabilizes a spill, provides a surface that helps test wildlife from the oil or other chemical, and enables clean-up to be conducted at a slower more organized pace without further damage to the environment.
Another object is to provide such a method which is environmentally safe, economical and efficient in operation.